Trapped At Fault
by ezriahowlter
Summary: Aria has been in the dollhouse for several months, longer than her friends. But why? Someone seeking revenge for all past events. Will she escape, if so, how? Will Ezra save her? Ezria fanfiction
1. Chapter 1

**Hi, I've read a few fanfictions about the dollhouse and I fell in love with them. It inspired me to write my own. I will say that due to this I may have used ideas so full credit to the authors and as there was so many I don't exactly remember who. If they were to read this I'd like them to know that they're amazing fanfics. There also may be similarities and possible violence, I'm not fully sure where it'll go but I have a few ideas I am thinking of. I hope you enjoy it :)**

 **And if you'd like updates follow ezria_howlter on twitter**

 **Also a note that for certain parts to work there will be differences from the show.**

 **Chapter 1**

Screams filled the room as Aria tried to escape them. They were getting closer and closer each second, if only Ezra was here to comfort her. The door of her room made that all familiar creak as a small amount of light shine through, nearly blinding her, why hadn't she gotten used to it? She'd been in the dollhouse for several months now but what felt like an eternity. The same routine day after day- the worst being that for the past few weeks she hasn't been let out of the replica of her room back in Rosewood. Aria wondered where her friends were, the screams she heard were their weren't they? Was Alison still in jail? But most where was her Ezra? A single tear states to fall leaving a stain on her face as it dropped to the floor. Memories. Before A took the four teens Aria and Ezra had fought. Not a big argument but Aria felt uneasy because all she thought about was how upset Ezra must be at the sudden change of being a father and that being torn away from him. To her, nothing had really been the same since Maggie and Malcolm came into their lives- of course it wasn't Malcolm's fault but with her nature to fix things, all Aria wanted was for everyone to be happy even if it included sacrificing her own happiness. To an extent she had felt replaced back when that happened but within time that had faded away when her and Ezra got back together. She was still happy in her relationship and wanted nothing more than to be in his arms right now. Little did she know was that the night she was abducted Ezra was going to propose. That little argument was distant and meant nothing to the unbreakable couple.

Aria wrapped her orange jumpsuit around her as she sobbed, it became damp so she moved it away. The hairs on her arms stuck up like needles, all Aria wanted to do was her hurt herself like she did before she met Ezra but that meant consequences. Aria felt worthless,everyone knew it. She shifted her thoughts back to Ezra as her heart was saying, " _to make it out of here you have to think positive."_ He was her safe place. They meant everything to each other. The light from the crack in the door illuminated her skin, it gradually faded as a shadow formed. One she couldn't place a face to but knew all too well, terrifying her.

"Get up…"

Aria backed away when the frightening figure stepped towards her- still not being able to see them. She hesitantly shook her head to signal them to leave. No use. Not today. Not again.

"I said get up bitch!"

"No." She whispered

"I'm sorry what? Did you not hear me, I said get up!"

The monster grabbed her arm. "No. No. No. No! No!" she managed to choke out.

Why was this happening to her? Revenge?


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Blackbruised and mixed with red, Aria stood up gently to examine her own body. Aching all over she saw the blood dripping. Tears. Today's routine felt different, she was sure of it. Aria was uncertain how but she was going to figure it out. Perhaps this was her key to flee the scene, to find her friends and they could all escape together. She was determined to do something. Aria pulled herself together, started packing around the room that once meant something to her and thought of how she could pull this off. Ezra would know how to help her, he always did- her one and only safety net. It felt like he was here with her when she started wondering what to do, she knew what his opinions would be and if her idea wouldn't amount up to watch she thought Ezra would agree with, she scrapped it.

She knew today was different, she heard footsteps past the usual time, once she was collected she wouldn't hear them until the following day. But there they were. The small 'cat flap like door' opened where the same voice echoed in her room, "Get to sleep, you'll need it." She presumed that maybe it was her mind messing with her, it wouldn't add up that the routine would change or that the monster would be ordering her more than usual. "Now!" That's when she knew how serious this was. She was trapped. There was orders. There were consequences. Things had to be done their way.

Aria went back to lie on her "bed" and her thoughts processed ready for the next day with a glimpse of hope that maybe these new routines were her way out.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Wesley will be three years older than Ezra in this fanfic**

 **Chapter 3**

"Please eat something." A young voice spoke breaking the unsightly thick tension between the two.

"I don't want to eat Hardy." Ezra Fitz spat back harshly at his college friend.

The friend sighed loudly. "Well did you eat last night after I left?" Silence again. "Ezra stop looking in the distance and start answering my question!"

"Don't talk to me like that! I'm sick of everyone checking up on me all the damn time!" He took a sip of his whiskey that lived on his nightstand, taking in the familiar warmth.

"We're just trying-" Interrupted.

"To help me!" Well I don't want your fucking help Hardy! You don't know what the fuck I've been through, do you really think _your_ help is going to solve all my problems? The therapist you shoved down my bloody throat? Ella's? Why because they 'know what I'm going through'"

Ezra used air quotes to emphasise his anger before taking another sip of his now favourite beverage. "Hell no they don't! Oh and especially those women you try to set me up with haven't got a fucking clue. They know nothing of the sort! And why are you even trying to set me up anyway?"

"Ezra, I-"

The intoxicated friend laughed loudly to himself. "Wait. Wait. Let me guess. You were just trying to help me, it's all you keep saying! What I will never understand is why you're trying so hard to make me forget about-" he choked, it'd been ages since he said her name but she was all he thought about day and night.

"Aria." Hardly said softly.

The blue eyed man caught eyes with something on his bookshelf. "Get out. Just get out, I can't do this anymore."

Hardy got up from the chair in the kitchen and began to walk through empty pizza boxes his friend clearly had no intention to move. When reaching the door, he called out, "Ok but please call me if you need anything. You may not like it but I am here for you Ez." He finished his heartwarming speech (although the only heartwarming thing Ezra could feel right now was the alcohol) and then the friend left.

Ezra sighed and trudged through the pile of mess he had no desire to clean up. He looked face to face with his future, held it in his hands and sobbed. Tears became heavier as he sat on his bed and opened the box. The most beautiful diamond ring stared back at him.

 _~FLASHBACK~_

 _Ezra walked through the hospital door with tears staining his face. He may visit her everyday but it still hurts to see someone he loved being torn away from him._

" _Hello Grandma, how are you? Sorry that's such a stupid question to ask. I didn't mean to upset you." He spoke softly._

" _My dear Ezra, come here please. And I'm alright, thank you for asking." Tears were also in her eyes as her grandson went to sit on the edge of her bed._

 _After Ezra's parents had divorced everything was too much to handle so he went to live with his grandparents along with his older brother Wesley. Ezra had always had a special connection with his grandmother and when her husband passed away Ezra had been her rock. Now he was going through the same trauma she experienced. Wesley went back to work for their father. So he was the one in charge of looking after their sick grandmother. It had felt like his world was falling apart, everybody was leaving him behind, of course that's life but Ezra felt too young to be alone, he was about to start his first year of college soon. Life was scary and he'd been thrown in the deep end._

" _I know it's hard but I've had a wonderful life, truly. And you deserve that too. A young man like you doesn't need a burden like me."_

" _But-"_

" _But nothing. You're starting college soon, you're doing everything you've wanted to in life and I'm so proud of you and everything you've achieved. All you do is put others before yourself and now you need to put yourself first." A small silence filled the room as they exchanged warm smiles. "Here I want you to have this," the elderly woman took off her engagement ring and have it to her grandson._

" _When your grandfather gave this to me I was ecstatic. You remind me of him everyday, from your handsome looks, to your wonderful personality; and that's why I want you to have this. I want you to make your special someone as happy as I was when I had this given to me- a beautiful and wonderful chapter in my life. Treasure your dreams and never let your person go, you two will be so lucky you've found each other. I can't wait for you to create so many happy memories with them, when that time comes."_

 _Ezra gave a weak smile. "Are you- are you sure?"_

" _I've never been more sure of anything, except when I married your grandfather." Her sweet remark caused the two to chuckle. Unexpectedly, a young nurse walked in declaring that visiting times were over. Ezra got up off the bed slowly, have his grandmother a tight hug and walked towards the grey door. He didn't want to leave._

" _I love you my dear Ezra."_

" _I love you too Grandma, so much."_

 _That was the last time they saw each other._

 _~FLASHBACK OVER~_

Ezra cried deeper as he saw his reflection in the ring that his grandmother gave him. He thought she would be so disappointed if she saw her in this state. This wasn't the life he promised her he'd have. He was the biggest disappointment and a life that was currently without Aria made him worthless. He put the box on the nightstand next to his bottle of whiskey and fell asleep into a deep trance as his head hit the pillow.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Bells: Not the one she wanted to hear. Aria had a vision of a white lacy dress that fit her perfectly, showing off her beautiful curves that would make everyone fall at their feet; not an orange jumpsuit. She wanted those loving arms that made her feel safe, warm and calm, those loving and protecting arms that would help her through anything. Aria felt as if that touch she longed for was really happening until the cold hit her arms and realisation kicked in that she was in fact alone again just like she has been for the past few weeks. "At least the other girls are here too. I'm not alone. Spencer's always thinking of plans she'll know exactly how to escape, I can help her. If only I knew how to get out to talk to her for just a few minutes, it would all be solved." She slowly whispered to herself as the, what one would call, 'artistic' ideas pondered through her mind like clockwork. Life worked like cogs- everything had a purpose and that was why Aria's plan had to be magnificent if she was truly going to finally beat A at their own game. _'If there was a way in there is a way out.'_ That stuck with Aria when pacing through her room. She needed her safety net to help her but she just needed to know that Ezra was ok, that he was coming to her aid soon, he just had to be. Thoughts of him filled her mind absorbing every detail of every moment they spent together for almost two years.

 _~FLASHBACK~_

" _Are you going to move?" Ezra whispered in his girlfriend's ear._

" _No." she replied softly._

" _Why not?" He asked in a slightly aggravated voice as her legs balanced on his lap, clearly causing pain the the older guy due to the length of period the two had been sat like this._

" _I'm comfy." She teased, giving no indication that she would be moving anytime soon._

" _Yeah well I'm not. You might be smaller but you're crushing my damn arm."_

" _Fine." She slowly got up and proceeded to walk towards the kitchen while Ezra watched her hips sway side to side. She turned her on her heel before approaching the fridge. "Do you want anything to eat?"_

" _Um, yeah but there isn't anything in…" He spoke quieter as he came to the end of his sentence. This caused Aria to quickly open the fridge almost knocking the door off its hinges._

" _Why the hell do you only have one single lime in your bloody fridge Fitz? It's growing fur too." She reached inside to pick it up and throw in the bin which was placed next to the once filled fridge._

" _Ahem and what do you think you're doing? You leave my lime alone!"_

" _I was just going to pet it." Aria responded playfully as she felt his arms wrap around her._

 _~FLASHBACK OVER~_

Aria smiled as she remembered moments like that, days where they would just spend the entire day together sat in each other's company teasing one another as they pleased. Her happy memories wouldn't last forever though, she knew if she conveyed one single smile something would happen- something about this place was uncomfortable well of course that's a given she was currently staying in a hell hole. It was more than dangerous and Aria felt like she was walking barefoot on broken glass around here, she was treated differently now by A, more unthinkable, more unspeakable, horrible, terrible things that wouldn't stop. Torturing her mind day in and day out, all she wanted was a moment of peace to think about Ezra.

Once again, here she was faced with the creak of terror moments away from catching the monster in the corner of her eye. It was happening again and all she could do was obey. The cold light shone on her face as she turned away as it tried to burn her eyes. Mentally preparing herself was something that Aria was incapable of in this moment but it was something that has to be faced and the only thing that kept her going was the plans she would conjure up tonight.

 _Later that night_

To be honest, Aria didn't have the biggest clue what she was doing but she couldn't sit here wondering ' _what if'_. She couldn't care less what the hell the consequences were. Like a lightbulb, Aria remembered that the locks stopped working at a specific time. Just like Mona had told them, she too had been here all too long that she could tell what time they would turn off. Aria was determined and thinking what everyone's reactions would be once they heard of the disgusting routine she went through, they would be sick to their stomach and that was enough for the petite teenager to take control and for once be the hero. Walking over to the brown door, she clenched her fists causing her knuckles to turn slightly white. Unusual. As she went to open the heavy door her plan started to crumble in front of her eyes, it wouldn't budge; she was currently contemplating whether she could fit through that 'cat flap door' but she had to be realistic here. Perhaps there was a wedge on the other side but would that do any harm being there. Had she got her timings mixed up? Maths was never her strong point, much like her Ezra she was exceptional at English but simple maths like this she had no problem with. God she just wished Ezra was here to help her, it's all she thought, that he was safe.

Interrupting her thoughts screams consumed her as they bounced off the walls from the speakers. Who's were they? Ezra's. He was shouting her name. His voice was getting louder and louder which could mean only one thing- he was getting closer to her. Her hand ran towards the handle and forced it to open; nothing. Fists failing as she banged on the door loudly went in sync with the sounds of her boyfriend's shouting and crying, causing her to let out her own sobs. This was the closest she could get to him right now. Aria caught eye with the camera in her room. "Let me out you bastard! You cold-hearted bastard! How could you do this? I swear to God if you lay one finger on him so help me I'll-" She couldn't speak, she was frozen still as the thought of Ezra being tortured by A struck her like lightning. She fell to the floor and curled up into a ball imagining that he own arms were Ezra's as if to tell her that he was ok. But he wasn't. In reality he was hurt and broken, those screams if her name proved that. Aria tried to get the loop of him screaming at the top of his lungs out of her mind, this wasn't her Ezra although it wasn't in her mind those torturing cries of help echoed in the melancholy room. A was good at tormenting because it was working hard, the girl was falling apart piece by piece in the same rhythm that Ezra's tears fell to the floor.

 **Thank you for reading this chapter and luckily it's a longer one. I hope you enjoyed it and feedback is greatly appreciated :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The knock on the door bounced off the walls seeming harmful; the loud door opened- standing there was Veronica Hastings. Confusion surrounded the air but for lawyers it's in their nature to give off a scary impression and Mrs Hastings (including her husband) succeeded in every prospect.

"Spencer will you please come downstairs? Your dinner's ready." The teenager sat in silence wrapped up in her duvet facing away from her mother. Not one response came from her mouth. Mrs Hastings continued to speak while walking towards her daughter's bed and sat down, "Sweetie, I understand how hard this is for you but would she really want you to be like this? Spencer everyone is trying so hard to find her I promise. Aria-"

"Can you not say her name? You have no idea what I'm going through." Spencer started to raise her voice as she continued talking. "My best friend is missing and somehow nobody saw her when we were found. Nothing makes sense anymore. So please, try and justify yourself as to why you would understand!"

Silence followed through again but Spencer's outburst shattered the uncomfortableness into a million pieces giving a more dreadful sense to the atmosphere. "And the police have no idea what they're doing, they would've found her by now. It's been months…" her last sentence caused her to drift off into her own sickening thoughts for her to only come face to face with reality that everything she went through last year was happening again- but worse.

"Can I just be alone?"

"Okay but will you eat something?"

A small "whatever" fell out of the teenagers mouth as she sunk back into the suffocating covers.

 _The next day_

"Are you okay?"

"What kind of a question is that Hanna? What do you want me to say? 'Everything's fine Hanna I'm all happy and rosy while our best friend is nowhere to be seen and is probably getting tortured twenty-four seven and we can't do anything but it's okay cause we're just gonna sit around for the police to sort it because they're _so_ great at that!'"

Hanna Marin and Spencer sat back down in their respective chairs in the brew, slumped down so they could hide from the world.

Emily piped up trying to smooth the waters by trying to somehow change the topic, but for the next ten minutes the conversations would always lead back to Aria. "Spencer, we get how you feel so let's just calm down and try to think things through."

"No I'm stopping until she's found, Alison get your laptop and start writing." As told Spencer was now in charge of the situation switching roles with Alison DiLaurentis. "I need you to tell me exactly what happened the night you found us. We can piece it all together and maybe it will lead us to her. Hanna get Caleb to get here now, we need all information, coordinates, everything."

"And what about Toby?" Emily questioned.

"Tanner's got him all caught up in work, basically lockdown. They're so called trying to solve the case so he can't leave but with their history it'll be impossible."

The sarcastic tone of, "great" could only be followed by the the four other girls.

"There could be footage or something, something that we missed while we weren't looking or not there. We need to get Caleb and Toby to try and trace anything that could help us." Emily pleaded

Alison responded quietly, "Couldn't this be dangerous? We need to be careful." It was what they were all thinking.

"And we will." sharply reciprocated by Spencer.

"We need to tell Ezra about this, has anyone heard from him recently?"

The other four shook their heads in response clearly in concern over their best friend's boyfriend.

 _Later at Hanna's house_

"Hey, sorry I couldn't be here sooner I can only stay for a bit but I managed to get some stuff that could help." Toby rambled as he walked through the door towards the aggravated group of friends as they waited in anticipation of his arrival.

"Has anyone tried to call Ezra, I did but he didn't answer and he deserves to be here." Hanna said while putting her phone down on the worktop which they were all sat around looking at Caleb's laptop, trying to hint to one of the boys to try getting hold of him.

"I'll try, maybe he was out or something." Toby spoke as he started to dial Ezra's number but a few moments later he was hit with voicemail. "Nothing, we can try again later maybe if we had some news he'd be willing to talk I mean we're all struggling with this but she's his girlfriend."

"I just wish we could be there for him, none of us have seen him in months we don't know how he's coping." Emily spoke.

"Or if he's coping…" Everyone turned around and shot Hanna a glance of annoyance and disappointment.

"Not helping, Hanna." Spencer said to her in the same tone her friend said some remark like this that was never needed in moments 'similar' to this.

"Wait guys can you be quiet for a moment? I think I found something." All eyes were on Caleb then to the screen on his laptop realising they could be close with a potential breakthrough.

All that could be seen on the screen was a forest, the speed of the footage getting faster and faster then returning to normal speed when the unfamiliar hit.

"Wait Toby was this the footage Tanner wanted to look at?" Alison questioned.

"Yeah.."

"Then how did anyone miss this?"

There in front of them were two people. Clones.

"Two black hoodies." Hanna stated the obvious.

"This- this doesn't make sense. Who's behind this? We all thought it was Andrew but he's missing!" Spencer yelled louder and louder. The footage carried on showing the two mysteries carrying a large object- what seemed to be a body out of shot and into the unknown.

All that filled the air was a unison of, "Oh my god." In utter disbelief as to what they just witnessed. Was Aria carried somewhere else so she deliberately wouldn't be found? But since when were there two people?

"We need to tell Ezra. Now!" Spencer screamed.

"What if he doesn't answer?" Caleb questioned.

"I don't care what it takes I will break down his door if I have to. With this… We could find Aria."

No longer than ten minutes the entire group was stood outside Ezra's apartment, 3B. No-one knew what could happen, how he would react. Clueless.

Spencer knocked on the door loudly, just like Veronica Hastings did- it was in her blood. Nothing. She knocked on the green door once again, it slowly and only slightly opened so the occupant on the other side could see who was there but he was invisible.

"Hey…"

 **If you've read this far, thank you so much it means a lot. I am also deeply sorry or not uploading sooner, my plan was to upload before I went on holiday but I became so busy I had no time and I wanted to write an acceptable chapter, hopefully it's good enough and I'm sorry cause it's pretty bad. Please give feedback if you can and I hope to update as soon as I can :)**


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